This product lists the questions asked and the summary results from
two GAO sample surveys: one of U.S. depository institutions filing at
least 120 Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) in 2006, and another of all
state and local law enforcement agencies authorized to access CTR data
through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) Gateway
Program as of May 2007. The Web-based survey of compliance officers or
other officials of U.S. depository institutions asked questions about
each institution's experience filing CTRs, the use of exemptions
from CTR filing, and opinions on possible changes to the CTR filing
process. This survey was administered to a random sample of 680
depository institutions, stratified by asset size and institution type,
drawn from the eligible population of 3,880 banks and credit unions
filing more than 120 CTRs in 2006. Usable responses were received from
469 institutions, for a response rate of 68 percent. The actual number
of responses to individual questions may vary, however, depending on the
number of institutions eligible to answer a particular question and the
number actually providing a response. Because these percentages are
subject to sampling error, each of the estimates from this survey is
accompanied by a 95 percent confidence interval, which indicates the
range we would expect to include the actual population value in 95
percent of the samples we could have drawn. Names and e-mail addresses
for officials at sampled institutions were obtained from the
institutions' respective regulators. GAO began this survey in
September 2007 by e-mailing unique survey ID numbers and passwords;
followed up with nonrespondents by e-mail and telephone; and closed the
survey in October 2007. The Web-based survey of state and local law
enforcement agencies asked questions about each agency's use of
CTRs, views on the usefulness of CTRs, and opinions on possible changes
to CTR filing requirements. This survey was administered to all 115
state and local agencies that had access to CTR data through the Gateway
Program as of May 2007, according to FinCEN records. Usable responses
were received from 89 agencies, for a response rate of 77 percent. As
with the depository institution survey, the actual number of responses
to individual questions may vary, depending on the number of agencies
eligible to answer a particular question and the number actually
providing a response. The number of actual responses to each question is
listed in the results along with the percentage of that number choosing
each answer category. Because this survey was administered to all known
members of the population, its estimates are not subject to sampling
error. However, the practical difficulties of conducting any survey may
introduce other non-sampling errors. Names and e-mail addresses for the
Gateway contacts were obtained from FinCEN. GAO began this survey in
July 2007 by e-mailing unique survey ID numbers and passwords; followed
up with nonrespondents by e-mail and telephone; and closed the survey in
August 2007. While the wording of the questions in this e-supplement is
nearly identical to the Web survey questionnaires that we administered,
not all introductory or instruction text is reproduced, and for ease of
presentation the formats of the actual questionnaires differ from what
is represented here. Answers to short-answer text questions are not
displayed.